Well, the Washington Nationals made a move on Friday/Saturday by signing former Chicago Cub outfielder Kyle Schwarber to a one-year 10 million dollar contract for the 2021 season. This move came days after NL East divisional rival the New York Mets made some serious moves of their own.

Before I share my thoughts on the signing, I think it is worth taking a close look at Schwarber's recent stats.

Schwarber has appeared in 24 Postseason career games, including five games of the 2016 World Series in which he came back from a severe knee injury he sustained earlier in the season to help the Cubs top the Cleveland Indians. Schwarber has hit .288 with one double, six homers, 11 RBI, 13 walks, and ten runs in 79 career plate appearances in the Postseason.

Sarah Langs from MLB.com makes an interesting point: "2020 was a down year for Kyle Schwarber's power overall (.393 SLG), but here are his percentile rankings from both 2020 & 2019, with 2019 of course, being a much larger sample size (and a .531 SLG)"

Since 2017, Schwarber has recorded 28 outfield assists, tied for the second-most among Major League left fielders with Alex Gordon and behind Andrew Benintendi (29). Schwarber recorded 11 outfield assists in 2018, tied with Benintendi for most Major League left fielders.

An interesting stat that was found via TalkNats: "by signing Schwarber, this brings the #Nats up to just under 85 wins at a .520 winning % and the 5th best team in the National League, which would be the 3rd Wild Card."

Brittany Ghiroli, the Nationals beat writer for The Athletic, summed up the move: "Schwarber will slot over to left field, a position of need since they moved Juan Soto over to right during the 2020 season. Soto is expected to start in right, with Victor Robles in center field. Schwarber's bat, along with recently added Josh Bell, will help protect Soto and bolster the lineup. If there is a universal DH next season, Schwarber could also see some time there."

What does this mean for the Washington Nationals?

By singing OF Kyle Schwarber, the Nationals were able to solidify the outfield, which was a concern after Adam Eaton's departure additionally, this signing will hopefully provide another power bat for the Washington Nationals lineup.

There are a lot of potential lineups being floated around. This an indication that now Dave Martinez has some felixablity to move players around.

Suppose the Nationals can negotiate a long term deal with Schwarber and hope that the NL gets the DH. In that case, I believe that this deal would even be sweeter, now the Nationals have exclusive rights to negotiate with him over the upcoming year to work something out.

The Washington Nationals still need to figure out who will be the complementary piece behind the plate for Yan Gomes, which should come to be the main focus.

Questions to think about moving forward

1) Is Mike Rizzo done for this offseason, and is this the big splash that the team is going to make

2) Does this mean that Ryan Zimmerman is less likely to return to the team? If the DH comes into effect in the National League, would it make sense for the team to sign Ryan Zimmerman?

3) Who will be the complementary piece to Yan Gomes behind the plate?